


when i see the stranger, i will not weep.

by miss_universe



Series: Writer's Month 2019 [23]
Category: A Song of Ice and Fire & Related Fandoms, A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Character Study, During Canon, Ficlet, Gen, Getting to Know Each Other, POV Brienne of Tarth, Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-24
Updated: 2019-08-24
Packaged: 2020-09-25 23:34:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 365
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20379961
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/miss_universe/pseuds/miss_universe
Summary: The Kingslayer makes Brienne think about death.Writer's Month 2019 Prompt: Day Twenty Three - Death.





	when i see the stranger, i will not weep.

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt fill for Writer's Month 2019.  
Day twenty-three: Death.

“Are you scared of death?” Jaime had asked her on the way to King’s Landing, his chains clinking together as loud as he could make them. “You should be, because my father will kill you.” 

Brienne didn’t reply at first. She usually ignored the Kingslayer and his quips, although that one stuck with her. Was she scared of death? No, she wasn’t. She had seen death before. It had came for her mother when she was barely four, it came for her twin sisters not even old enough to walk, it came for her brother when he was swimming on a warm day. Was she afraid of the Stranger’s embrace? How could she be? Ser Goodwin had made her butcher pigs when she was still learning how to hold a sword. Some of them died quickly, but as she was just beginning, she hadn’t known how to strike efficiently, and they were in agony before Goodwin put them out of their misery. 

She had sent pirates to the Stranger as well, watched as they tried to come onto Tarth’s shores to steal and pillage her home. She remembered the first man she ever slaid, bloodshot eyes and a golden hoop on the outside of his nose. She remembered how pale he was when she shoved her sword into his belly, how quickly the blood stained his light colored shirt. She stared for a good ten seconds, long enough to see the man spit on her boots before falling over dead, eyes glazed over permanently. Ten seconds was all she could afford herself before she moved onto the next one. 

She finally thought of Renly, of his gorgeous eyes that were different colors depending on the light, his long black hair, the way he felt in her arms as he laid on the ground, the only time she ever touched him. She thought about how pale he was and how small he seemed. 

“No,” she finally said, “I do not fear death, Kingslayer. I fear dying without honor, dying for something not worth it. Getting Lady Catelyn’s daughters back to her is worth it.” 

The Kingslayer didn’t speak to her for the rest of the day.

**Author's Note:**

> please leave a kudos/comment if you enjoyed!


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